Trump alienates intelligence pros as Assange divides the GOP

Posted by | January 4, 2017 21:52 | Filed under: News Behaving Badly Politics

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Donald Trump trusts Julian “I luv Vlad Putin” Assange more than the most extensive and sophisticated intelligence apparatus on the planet.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/816452807024840704


Trump’s tweets have reportedly sparked confusion among America’s intelligence officials, who said that there was no delay in the briefing schedule — which was always scheduled for Friday, according to an Associated Press report on Wednesday morning. Aside from increasing suspicions that Trump is avoiding facts that may damage his self-image or discredit his election victory, there are also concerns that his attitude could harm his relationship with the intelligence community.

You could well read Matthew Rozsa’s “could harm” as “have already harmed.” Rozsa also cites a large number of telling tweets by intel journos Mark Berman and Jim Sciutto. These caught our eye:


But they’re not the only ones tweeting:

A former spokesperson for the Department of Defense and the CIA warned this week that the U.S. would be “less safe” after President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office on Jan. 20.

In a message posted to Twitter on Wednesday, George Little noted that Trump had recently sided with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange over U.S. intelligence officials about whether Russia had stolen emails from Democrats in order to influence the presidential election.

Trump’s tweet, which was quickly deleted, repeated Assange’s assertion that “a 14 year old could have hacked” Clinton’s campaign manager. U.S. intelligence officials have repeatedly pointed to Russia as the source for the stolen information.


https://twitter.com/georgelittledc/status/816460295589822465

Meanwhile, as the title of the article says, some Republicans learned to stop worrying and love Julian Assange:

Sean Hannity once said that Julian Assange was waging “war” on the United States and should be arrested. Sarah Palin once said he had “blood on his hands.”

That was then. Today, both Hannity and Palin think Assange’s document-leaking website, WikiLeaks, is doing the Lord’s work. Apparently, something has changed.

And they’re not alone. Increasingly, members of a Republican Party that once denounced Assange for exposing U.S. military secrets are praising him for leaking the Democratic Party’s secrets. Even President-elect Donald Trump is now citing Assange as an authority. …

Rudolph W. Giuliani said he found WikiLeaks “very refreshing.” Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) thanked God for it, saying it was filling in for a derelict mainstream media.

But that view is not unanimous:

On Wednesday morning, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) made clear that he thinks Assange is “a sycophant for Russia.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), meanwhile, called Assange a “high-tech terrorist” in 2010 and doesn’t seem to have amended that view. And Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) rebuked Hannity in October for his Assange praise.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, for his part, sounds to be the most measured, lucid, and rational of the many anti-Assange legislators weighing in on the issue:

“I don’t believe any American should give a whole lot of credibility to what Mr. Assange says,” Graham said Wednesday on CNN’s “At This Hour.” “I hope no American will be duped by him. You shouldn’t give him any credibility. Look at his record in terms of how he treats our country.”

At any rate, grab the popcorn. This could be more prolonged and damaging than yesterday’s GOP self-inflicted ethics panel black eye.


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Copyright 2017 Liberaland
By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.

28 responses to Trump alienates intelligence pros as Assange divides the GOP

  1. Jack E Raynbeau January 4th, 2017 at 21:59

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arZdeg_fL-I

  2. StoneyCurtisll January 4th, 2017 at 22:08

    Keith Olberman has some very good questions for the topic at hand…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr-sQm5F9EE

    • oldfart January 5th, 2017 at 00:35

      Another good one from KO !

      • StoneyCurtisll January 5th, 2017 at 01:18

        And right on time~!

  3. robert January 4th, 2017 at 22:43

    Twitter should go out of business for the sake of America

  4. Suzanne McFly January 4th, 2017 at 22:51

    Rachel Maddow nailed it on her show last night, rump is trying to dismantle the intelligence agencies. I believe this is pence who is helping him. Without intelligence, they will be able to say whatever and do whatever they want.

  5. Suzanne McFly January 4th, 2017 at 22:56

    I believe the day is coming where the republicans will be the ones crying over rumps “win”. I have done my crying and I am now in the pissed off phase, and I happily laugh at the demise of the republican party. They deserve what they have coming to them.

  6. labman57 January 4th, 2017 at 23:00

    Trump’s continuous critiques of U.S. intelligence agencies and his alignment w/Assange and Putin is extremely self-serving — it speaks volumes about Trump’s flawed character and damaged psyche.

    • Willys41 January 5th, 2017 at 07:46

      It speaks volumes about his loyalty.

  7. jybarz January 5th, 2017 at 00:35

    This truly proves the low level intelligence Trump/InsHannity/Palin/majority of the REPUKES have to discredit the intelligence community and having Assange their former ENEMY NO.1 now their HERO NO.1.

  8. William January 5th, 2017 at 01:03

    There is no longer any doubt that the election was influenced by the Russians, and Cheeto Hitler is terrified the results will be found null and void. Lets not forget. This is the same lunatic who suggested Ted Cruz’s father was involved. in the JFK assassination because he read it in the National Enquirer.

    Even more bizarre

    In 2010 the Mandarin Moron suggested Assange that should get the death penalty for his treason.

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/04/politics/kfile-trump-wikileaks/index.html
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/44311acdc98d86d4f0df68d17c58ba71005a7814588f20ed0207e123d14e7b44.jpg

  9. dewired4u January 5th, 2017 at 02:37

    This is getting spooky.

  10. Willys41 January 5th, 2017 at 07:45

    There comes a point when you have to ask if someone is deliberately working for the benefit of a hostile foreign power.

  11. Buford2k11 January 5th, 2017 at 08:43

    So…I look out the bunker periscope, and what do I see… ?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/14ee305b44fc31bb496d452b1c420dcc0ef0ec54a539b706d53d8833b9c53395.jpg

    Dinosaurs…

    • anothertoothpick January 5th, 2017 at 12:42

      A turkey bird.

      My sister has two of them as pets. But they are not as WILD as the guy in the pix.

    • StoneyCurtisll January 5th, 2017 at 14:47

      Looks like a hen….
      Where are the males?

    • bpollen January 5th, 2017 at 20:15

      On the way to work recently, I saw that a house kitty-corner to my employer had 21 wild turkeys in their front yard. They’ve really done well here since they’ve been re-introduced. For years, the only wild turkey available came in a bottle.

  12. oldfart January 5th, 2017 at 09:23

    It appears that republicans have finally managed to lower the bar
    to the point where even talking out both sides of their mouths is now deemed acceptable, legitimate and necessary for them.

  13. amersham1046 January 5th, 2017 at 18:11

    For somebody that is hiding so much, not a good idea to make enemies in the CIA

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